Email marketing reports: the lowdown & why you should be excited!
I love email marketing reports! Yes, I am that much of a geek. Wouldn’t you like to know the impact of your newsletters and get even better results? Of course, you would.
In that case, you need to channel your inner geek and start loving these reports as much as I do. I’m going to take you through each metric in a report and tell you why it’s important to pay attention to.
Opens
The first thing you’ll want to know is how many people opened your email. It’s always exciting to look at this when you send out a newsletter. (I’ve blanked out the names and email addresses, as this is from one of my emails.)
Here’s why it’s important to take note of your open rate:
A low open rate could indicate that your subject line isn’t enticing enough, the recipient doesn’t recognise you, or even both! So, what should you do to fix this?
- Make sure you include your business name in the from name.
- Use subject lines that grab attention and keep them short. 8 words or 35 characters is plenty.
If you got a high open rate, well done! But don’t sit on your laurels. Here are some things you can do with this information:
- Understand how interested people were. A high open rate will give you an idea of the types of subject lines that work with your audience.
- Getting lots of opens will help you to understand the best day or time to send your email to increase opens. Check out when people opened your email.
- You’ll also be able to identify frequent openers. These are your super fans. Can you do something to make them feel special?
Clicks
Once you’ve looked at the opens, the next thing you’ll naturally want to look at is how many people clicked on the links you included.
Here’s what you need to be aware of when looking at the click rate:
A low click-through rate could mean that people aren’t really interested in the subject. It might also indicate that your call the action (the think you’re asking your reader to do) isn’t strong enough or visible. Or, you might have simply included too much information. Remember, many people open emails on their mobile phones and don’t want to do lots of scrolling. Here’s how you can fix low click throughs:
- Ask your list what they want to know about in a survey and include those topics in your emails.
- Tell readers exactly what the next step you want them to take is. Also, put it above the scroll line so it’s easy to see.
- Keep your emails short so they are easy to read on a mobile device.
If you’re consistently getting high click rates, you can still learn from this information. Here’s what you can do with this information:
- Figure out the content that they love and give them more of it!
- Understand where in your email they’re clicking, then put links to the most important information there.
- Segment your super clickers. This is a fantastic opportunity to give them a special offer, either by giving them early access or selecting something just for them.
Did not open
Whilst you may think this isn’t important, you can learn from this metric too. If you spend a little bit of time on them, you can win them back.
Here are a couple of things you can do:
- Pick up the phone to a selection and talk to them about the type of content they’d like to see in your emails.
- Send a selection a hand-written note asking them if they’d like to continue receiving your newsletters. Perhaps give them an incentive.
Unsubscribes
This is the thing any small business owner hates. The thought of someone deciding your newsletter isn’t for them is unthinkable! But people do opt out of receiving emails (I think better that than marking me as spam).
A consistently high opt-out rate could mean that you’re emailing your list too frequently with information that isn’t relevant to them. Here’s what you can do to fix this:
- Set expectations with people joining your list about how often you will email them. Then stick to this. If you have to send an additional email, acknowledge it and tell them why you’re doing it.
- Ask people opting out for their feedback. If you use a good email service provider, they will do this for you. Look at what people are saying and adjust your email strategy accordingly.
Bounces
I find this is a metric that small businesses don’t pay attention to. It is important because most email service providers will charge based on the number of email addresses in your contacts. So, guess what? You’ll be saving yourself money!
If that’s not enough reason to get you to look at your bounces, here are two more:
- It keeps your list clean, which influences the point below.
- An outdated list affects your open rate and subsequently your click rate.
Make sure you look at this metric each time you send an email and it won’t seem like a huge chore to keep your list clean.
I love looking at my email marketing reports and they really do help me figure out how best to approach my marketing. Don’t guess what will work for your business. Make sure you use all the information you have. It’s right there, in the email tool you use!